The love of a Huntsman
by Dutchy1992
Summary: Graham didn't die, he and Emma got together and Graham wants to make Emma believe. He wants to make her believe in magic but also... that there are people who won't leave her. Please read and review!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I keep looking at him while he takes care of me. Gently cleaning the cut on my head.

'Felt that', I whisper as I wince when he cleans the cut with anticeptic whipes. He murmers a quiet sorry.

'All better', he says softly when he's done.

'Yeah', I say back.

''Those walls may keep out pain but may also keep out love'', I hear Mary Margaret's voice in my head. I watch Graham as he cleans up the first aid kit. When he's done he turns around.

'What?' He asks. I can't find the words to answer him so I decide to put my heart on the line. Ever so slowly I walk towards him. Never breaking eye contact. I smile at him and look at his lips before I look at his eyes again. I stand on my toes and lean in to kiss him. It's been so long since I've felt like this. Insecure. Vonurable. Scared. For the first time in a long time I'm putting my heart on the line.

I'm glad to see him leaning in aswell. Finally our lips touch. And it feels amazing. We keep pressing our lips together for a few moments before I feel him starting to deepen the kiss. His toungue touches my lips and I happily grant him access. We keep on kissing until he suddenly pulls back with a gasp.

'Graham!' I call for him but he seems unresponsive. I keep calling him and finally, after countless attemps, he looks at me. The look in his eyes scares me. His pupils are dialated, tears glister in his eyes.

'Are you okay?' I ask.

'I remember', he murmers.

'Graham?' I say again. He looks at me again.

'I remember', he says again.

'You remember what?' I asks confused. He doesn't answer but comes closer and brings his hands up to cup my cheeks.

'Thank you', he whispers and a tear falls from his eye. It's a touching sight and momentarily I forget the haunted look in his eyes that was there moments earlier. I smile at his words. He leans in again and kisses me. More urgently this time. His toungue and hands make me feel tingly all over. Our tongues keep dancing around each other, our hands explore each others bodies. When I'm desperate for air I pull back. It doesn't stop him. He moves his lips across my cheek towards my neck. When he finds a particulair pleasurable spot he start to suck on it genty. Enough to make me crazy but not hard enough to leave a mark. It's only when I feel his tears dripping on my shoulder that I pull him back gently.

'Hey', I whisper, 'you okay?' He nods and wipes his eyes.

'Thanks to you I am now', he says. I cup his cheeks and wipe the remnants of his tears away.

'What happened? What do you remember?' I ask. He looks down.

'My life', he whispers, 'I don't know how to explain it now.' When his eyes meet mine all I see is sincerity.

'Okay. It's okay', I tell him. He smiles and gathers me in his arms. I'm overwhelmed by the safe feeling. He sighs against my shoulder and I feel a tremor go through his body. 'You can tell me when you're ready, okay?' I try to reasure him. He nods. I hold him just a little closer. Not that it's possible but I try. As he buries his head further against my shoulder, I turn my head so my nose is against his chest. We keep holding each other until he is ready to let go.

'You okay?' I ask again.

'I am', he answers. This time he actually looks a little better.

'Good'. I kiss him quickly on the lips.

'I'm ready to go home. After the last few days... I'm exhausted', he says.

'I can imagine', Graham still looks pale and shaky and I feel uncomfortable leaving him alone. 'Graham?'

'Yeah?'

'Come home with me', I look away when I say it. He doesn't answer me and I'm beginning to think I already ruined something that hasn't even begun. That is until he lifts my chin with his finger.

'Why do you ask?'

'Because... Mary Margaret was worried about you earlier', I lie.

'And...', he smirks. I try to hold mine in but eventually I lose the starring contest.

'Okay, fine. Maybe I was a little worried, too. And maybe I still am', I admit with a smile. I sigh. 'I don't want to leave you alone, okay.' He chuckles and kisses me on my forehead.

'That's good because I don't want to be alone.'

'Good. Then let's go', I say.

I drive us back to Mary Margaret's appartment because Graham is obviously in no condition to drive. In the time it takes us to drive to the loft, Graham manages to fall asleep. I wake him when we arrive.

'Let's get you to bed', I say softly. He just nods. We hold hands as we walk the stairs to the loft. Mary Margaret looks more than surprised when we walk in hand in hand. I just mouth 'later' to her when I walk up the stairs with Graham. He takes of his shoes, jeans and workshirt as I close the curtains and turn the lights on.

'Do you mind if I sleep in this', he asks. I turn around and hold a little gasp. His body is as gorgeous as his face. Musculair but not too musculair. Apparently he catches me staring because he starts to chuckle a little.

'Uh yeah, sure', I mumble.

'I'm counting on getting the chance to stare, too, you know', he jokes.

'Oh shut up and get in bed', I laugh and give him a shove into my bed. When he's settled I sit beside him. 'You scared me', I whisper.

'Sorry', he whispers back.

'It's okay. It's just... I lost a lot of people in my life and I really don't want to lose you, too'.

'You won't. Tomorrow we'll talk, okay?' He says. When I look at him I see his eyes start to close.

'Okay', I say and kiss him just next to his mouth. 'Good night, Graham.'

'Stay', he says in a sigh. I grab his hand and start to rub circles on it with my thumb. It doesn't take long before he falls asleep and the grib on my hand losens. Before I leave I wipe a lose stand of hair of his forehead. I turn all the lights off except the one on my side of the bed. First, I have to talk to Mary Margaret.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

'I've made you hot coco', Mary Margaret says as I walk down the stairs.

'Got some booze to go with it', I say as I sit down. Mary Margaret apparently knows me well because she pulls a bottle of wine from behind her back.

'Talk?' She asks. I nod.

'We kissed', I say with a shy smile.

'Really?'

'Regina and I got into a fight tonight. Physically I mean. She hit me and I hit her. Graham defended me instead of her. I realised she was not worth the fight so we left. Graham took me back to the station to clean the cut on my head. That's when I realised... Nobody ever took care of me like that. So gently and without a hurry. It got me thinking about what you said', I take a sip of my coco and look at Mary Margaret, 'so instead of running I decided to put my heart on the line for once. I saw something, someone that would be good. So I kissed him. But something happened... he got this haunted look in his eyes and he said something about remembering his life. He still has to explain that but it scared me a little', I admit shyly, 'that's why I took him back here. I hope you don't mind. But he was so tired, shaky and still a little feverish I didn't kn...'

'Emma', she stops me as she lays her hand on mine, 'it's more than okay. And I know you're scared and afraid to lose him but I will always, always listen if you want to talk, okay. You're not alone anymore', she says. I nod and try to hide the tears in my eyes.

'Thank you', I whisper. She squeezes my hand before letting go. We talk some more and finish our coco. The wine was, after all, not necassary. It's almost midnight before I head back to my room. Graham is sleeping peacefully. Gently snoring. I quickly change into some pyjama's before sliding in bed beside Graham. I roll on my side to look at him. His sleeping face encourages me to think about everything what happened tonight. It's a little overwhelming. I stroke the side of his face with my thumb for a while.

'Hmm... nice way t'wake', he says still half asleep.

'Shh, go back to sleep. I didn't mean to wake you', I whisper. I turn over and shut my light off before rolling back to Graham. He reaches out under the blankets for my hand. We hold hands and after Graham falls asleep again, so do I.

I wake up when Graham moves beside me. I look up and see him gasping beside me. I reach out and lay my hand on his back.

'Graham?'

'She has my heart...', he mumbles over and over.

'Hey, hey, look at me', he's still breathing heavily, 'Graham, look at me.' I urge him again. Finally he does.

'Nightmare?' I ask.

'Memory...', he whispers.

'What happened? You keep saying you remember and you keep having this haunted look in your eyes when you do. What happened?' I asks worried.

'You won't believe me', he says sadly.

'Try me. Graham, I will listen, okay. Just tell me and let me decide if I believe you', I try to get him to talk but he looks so insecure that it's breaking my heart. 'Hey, you have me now. You're not alone anymore.' I kiss his cheek hoping I get through to him.

'Everything Henry is saying is true', he says quickly. Of course I look disbelieving. 'See, told you.'

'Explain, please', I try to calm him.

'Henry's book. It's all true. I know it's crazy. I realise I must sound crazy. But somehow kissing you brought back my memories. In Henry's book I'm the Huntsman. And it's true, Emma. But most importantly... Regina took my heart as the Evil Queen. And she has it locked in het volt at the cemetary.' I try to find any signs of a lie in what he's saying. But there isn't any. But then again... if he truly believes it, there wouldn't be any.

'Graham... I don't know what to say', I answer honestly.

'You don't have to say anything.' He whispers before lying back down.

'It doesn't mean I don't believe you. I want to, though. Because if it's true what you're saying... that the stories are true. That would mean that the woman downstairs is my mother. And I want to believe that more than anything', I tell him. There are tears in both of our eyes. He gathers me in his arms.

'Why don't you?' He asks.

'I've been let down too many times to count in my life. If I started to believe that after 28 years I finally found my mother and it turns out not to be true... I don't know how to get back from it than', I cry softly.

'Shh, Emma. It's okay', he says as he kisses the crown of my head. We lay like that for a while. The only sound are my sniffles.

'Let's go back to sleep, okay', he says softly when my sniffles die down. I nod and close my eyes. Graham's arms still around me. His lips touching my head every now and than. His breathing sooths me back to sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I wake up to someone stroking my cheek. I scrunge up my nose and hear Graham laugh next to me.

'Goodmorning', I say with sleep in my voice.

'Morning, beautiful', he whispers and kisses me. That's a new way to wake up. As soon as his lips touch mine I'm lost. After a while he pulls back. I sigh.

'Goodmorning indeed', he whispers. I simply smile before I tuck my head back under his chin and let his warmth comfort me.

'You okay?' He asks.

'Yeah. You?'

'I'm good', he answers. 'I'm going to look for the wolf again.'

'Want me to come with you?' I ask. I may not completely believe him but I hate for him to be alone.

'Sure', he kisses my forehead and lingers just a little longer. 'Breakfast?' I nod against his chest, press a kiss against it and start to get up. Only to have myself being pulled back into bed for another make out session.

It took a while but finally we made it downstairs for breakfast. Breakfast was nice. Mary Margeret was already making tons of food. Conversation flows easily and there's a relaxed and warm ambiance in the room. It's a nice moment.

'I should get going', Mary Margaret says. 'Have a good day you two.'

'You too!' I say back. Just before she closes the door she winks at me. I just role my eyes a little but smile anyway.

'Finally', Graham whisper before he, again captures my lips with his. Just the way he kisses and the way he holds me close makes me moan softly. I happily give in to his kisses and his touch. Until he starts to lift my shirt.

'Wait', I say as I break the kiss. He looks stunned for a moment. 'I can't. Not yet.'

'What's wrong?' He asks worried.

'I'm not ready. It's too fast, I can't. Not yet', I whisper quickly. He brings his hand to my cheek.

'That's okay. We don't have to do anything you don't feel comfortable with.'

'You won't leave?' The fears I grew up with will never leave me.

'Do you trust me?' He asks as he leans his forehead against mine. I nod a little. 'Trust me when I say I won't leave you. I'm happy to just kiss you and hold you until you're ready for more', he gathers me in his arms and immediatly I feel safe. I sigh and hide my face against his neck.

'Thank you', I whisper against him. Maybe just being me is finally enough for someone.

'Will you tell me? When you're ready, I mean. Will you tell me what's gotten you so scared to trust people?'

'I will. Soon.' I hold onto him for a few minutes more. I give myself enough time to get myself together again. When I pull back I give Graham a kiss on his lips.

'So now that we've talked about that, what do you want to do?' I asks smiling.

'We've got to get to the station', he teases.

'Of course, Sheriff. Don't want to lose my job', I tease back. We laugh together.

'I have to get home and change. If Regina sees me in the same outfit as yesterday, she'll hurt you again', Graham says in all seriousness.

'I can take care of myself, Graham.'

'You don't have to. Not anymore', he says. I look into his warm eyes and know. Know that he might just be the exception to everybody else. Maybe he won't be like them and leave me alone.

After Graham leaves I start to get ready for my day. Which means I need a shower. As I take my pyjama's off I glance in the mirror. The cut above my eye now has a nasty purple bruise around it. I touch it and wince. Regina really did hit me hard. I can only imagine what her face looks like.

After taking my clothes off I get in the shower. Under the warm spray of the water I start to think. Like I always do. I can't believe Graham and I got from fighting over him sleeping with Regina to being together within a few days. His nightmares scare me. He gets so caught up in them. Just like Henry is with his book. I don't like that there isn't anything I can do for them. They believe something I don't. They share a bond I can't understand. At least Henry has someone to talk to. Little Henry... he's had such a hard life. He's just like me when I was a kid. Always running away, not trusting anyone with his secrets, always looking for that one person that could love him. Only I never found that one person. I can only hope I can be his. I know one thing. I'll do anything to keep him safe and happy. To be the person who listents to him, to dry his tears and hold him like a little boy is supposed to be held. And Graham... I'll support him. No matter what he believes.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

When I enter the office I see Graham already at his desk. I take a moment to look at him. Really look at him. There are still bags under his eyes but the haunted glow on his face is gone.

'You do know I already heard you come in, right?' He smirks at me. I smile and walk towards him.

'Are you okay?' I ask still worried. He gives me a chaste kiss.

'I am. Don't worry.'

'You scared me last night. I get to be worried', I defend myself, 'do you still want to look for the wolf?' I decide to change the subject back to him instead of me being worried.

'Yes, I do. But you don't have to come with me. I know it sounds crazy but I swear, Emma...'

'Stop, okay', I stop him. 'I may not believe what you and Henry believe but I am going to be there for you, okay. I will help you look for the wolf. Graham you're not crazy, okay. Don't let anyone tell you that you are', before the last word passes my lips he kisses me. Really kisses me.

'Well, I see you two work really hard on all that paperwork', Regina interrupts us. We spring apart. After the moment of shock is gone Graham moves back besides me.

'What do you want, Regina?' He asks bitterly.

'I came to tell miss Swan that her actions from last night are unacceptable. I no longer trust you around Henry. I never did in the first place', she mutters. She looks me right in the eye with her evil smirk, 'therefor you are no longer allowed to see him until I tell you otherwise.'

'You can't do that! He needs me, he can't talk to anyone else!' I yell at her. She can't do this, she can't take away Henry.

'What he needs is his mother which you are not. Now, this is not open for discussion. Get back to work and stay away from Henry', she says before she leaves. No... Henry. Just the thought of not seeing him makes me sick. There are tears building in my eyes and the twist in my stomach only gets tighter.

'Henry...', I whisper. Graham's arms are around my stomach holding me up.

'We'll find a way, Emma', he whispers in my ear. A chocked sob leaves my throat. And with that sob the rest break free.

'She can't do this', I sob over and over again. Graham holds me in his arms and rocks me side to side.

'Just breath, Emma', he whispers gently. I turn my face against his neck and continue to cry. Finally, after long minutes the sobs start to lessen. And after about half an hour I'm silent in Graham's arms.

'Emma?'

'I'm so sorry. It won't happen again', I sit up, wipe my tears and straighten my clothes. Scared to look at Graham.

'Don't hide', he simply says as he lifts my chin with his finger. 'Don't apologise. Let me help you.' I sigh and nod after a moment. 'Good', he says and presses a kiss to my forehead. Again I lean against his chest. Exhausted from my breakdown.

'I'll see him around town, Mary Margaret has him in het class, he's at Granny's, I'll still see him and hear from him, right? I won't completely lose him. It's just temporary', I mumble, looking for reasuring words.

'You don't have to sugarcoat it for yourself, Emma. It won't be like it was. You get to be upset, you get to be mad, you get to miss Henry. He's your son', his words almost bring on another wave of tears. But I hold them in. Not because I have to. But because I'm too drained to cry again.

'Thank you', I say.

Graham held me until I was ready to let him go. He took me inside his office and set me down on his chair. I was afraid to look at him. It wasn't until he gave me some water that we started to talk. Good talk.

Now we're outside in the woods just walking around. I'm too distracted to work so walking with Graham around the woods is the perfect alternative.

'Emma?' Graham asks after a while.

'Hmm, sorry, what?' I snap out of my daydreams.

'I asked if you wanted to see if we can find the wolf again. Might be a nice distraction', he stops me and looks me right in the eye.

'Yeah, sure. I really could use some distrations right now', I answer with the hurt still in my voice. Graham moves closer and kisses me. Nothing to steamy but sweet and comforting. After he gathers me in his arms.

'It will all be okay, Emma. I promise', he whispers. I nod against his neck and breath in his scent. It makes me feel warm and whole inside.

'Let's go, okay. I need to do something usefull today', I say as I let go. He gives me one more kiss and grabs my hand before we walk towards the car.

'So where do we start?' I ask.

'The cemetary. Who knows what's there', Graham starts the car and drives throught the streets of Storybrook. We pass Granny's and that's where I see him. Henry. He looks sad. Until he sees me. His bright smile comes to his face and he waves. I try to gives him my best smile and wave back. The ache in my chest is almost to much to bare.

'It'll be okay, Emma', he says as he kisses my knuckles. I sigh and lean my head back against the headrest. For the rest of the drive I'm silent. All this time I'm thinking about Henry.

'We're here. This is where we saw him disappear last night', Graham pulls me out of my thoughts.

'Let's go', I say determend. Just to show him my mind is in this. Although it isn't. We look around the cemetary. No wolf. The only thing there are gravestones and the grave of Regina's father. The one that's locked.

'Why should she have a private grave?' I mutter out loud.

'I'm just wondering what she keeps in there', Graham replies. He walks towards the building and tries to open the door. Locked.

'Graham, it's just her father's grave', I try to calm him down.

'Maybe not, Emma. I saw the sign up there in my dreams. Just like I saw the wolf. And he's real, right! She keeps my heart in here', the haunted look in his eyes is back. This is what he believes. To him this is reality. It's true. Archie said I shouldn't crush Henry's believes so I won't do it to Graham either.

'Well, let's try then', I say and try to open the door. I kick against the lock three times before the door opens. Sure enough, there's a casket. Henry Mills, beloved father. She named her son after her father. Somehow I feel like I'm disrespectful of her privacy. But Graham is more important to me right now.

'There's nothing here, Graham', I lay my hand on his shoulder and feel him shaking.

'There has to be', he whispers. Frantically he searches every urn in here. It pains me to see him so desperate.

'Graham...', I try to stop him. He just keeps going. Until he suddenly stops. There are a few tears leaking from his eyes. Oh, Graham.

'There', he points to the floor, 'there are marks there.' I look and sure enough, there are. 'She moves this thing...'

'Graham, we really can't do this. Come on', he looks at me and I melt. He just moves to the side of the casket and start to push and the thing actually starts to move. This is all kinds of wrong. But when I look down there're stairs leading towards a basement.

'Graham, please', I whisper again. But nothing stops him from going inside that basement. For a moment I hesitate.

'Emma!' He yells from inside. I run downstairs to look what he's found. He's staring at a wall full of boxes. I think they're boxes anyway. I look around and see nothing but dusty walls and broken mirrors. Clearly this is nothing more than an old basement. The boxes are rusty and dusty, not used in years.

'Come on, Graham. There's nothing here. We should go before Regina comes here', I take his face in my hand to make him look at me. 'Come on'. He keeps looking at me before he comes with me.

'What if there's something there?'

'We'll go back if we need to. Now we need to go home. I think we both had enough emotions and feeling for today', he nods and follows me to the car. He looks defeated. And I feel drained. And I wonder how long I can keep everything up. I know I keep lying to Henry and Graham if I keep going with their stories and I'm setting them up for a major heartbreak. How am I supposed to tell them differently when I can see how strong they believe? What kind of person would that make me?


End file.
